Vascular Endothelial Surface Proteins in the Perfused Rabbit Lung

Abstract

Endothelial cells lining blood vessels interact with a wide range of blood borne substrates and cells. Underlying this dialogue is a complex mosaic of endothelial cell receptors, enzymes and membrane transport systems which serve to orchestrate crucial physiological and pathophysiological responses of the organism. Even a selected list of endothelial cell membrane receptors and transport systems (Table 1) emphasizes the diversity of potential functions they represent. For example, endothelial cells are believed to be involved in hemostasis (Nawroth et al., 1984), regulation of vascular tone (Gillis and Pitt, 1982; Furchgott, 1984), initiation of inflammation and response to immune mediators (Pober et al., 1986; Collins et al., 1986). Endothelial cell 5-HT (Crone and Levitt, 1984) and s adrenergic receptors (Bottaro et al., 1986) have been implicated in regulation of vascular permeability. Insulin receptors apparently participate in transport of the hormone to subendothelial sites (King and Johnson, 1985), and neutrophil adhesion receptors are expressed in response to monokines, presumably as part of the inflammatory response (Pober et al., 1986).